... [ music ] >> bill: hey. good morning, fellow americans. it is friday morning, november 30th. great to see you today. welcome to the "full-court press" here on current tv. we are coming out to you all across this great land of ours from our nation's capitol and our studio on capitol hill. we will let you know what's going on today here in washington, around the country and around the globe and we

will give you a chance to sound off, our little two-way town hall here every morning and i have got to tell you it was fun yesterday, vice president joe biden did his bid to boost the economy. he went shopping. he went to costco here in washington, d.c. and showed us with his own costco card and showed up witha firewood and a t.v. and apple pie. god bless america. lots to talk about this morning. let's find out first what's going on. here is the latest from lease a ferguson out in los angeles. hi, lisa. good morning. >> hey, bill. good morning, everyone. well, president obama is taking his fight over the fiscal cliff today heading to hatfield, pennsylvania. he is going to tour the rhodon group manufacturing facility. >> that's a place the white house says is one of the many businesses that depends upon middle class shoppers this holiday season.

rhodon manufactures connect brand. that time group sells toys like angry birds building sets and tinker toys. at the end of the year, as i am sure you know by now the average middle class family is facing a 2,000 dollar tax hike. on monday of this week the white house released a report saying that could be americans spending $200,000,000,000 less in 2013. the president will continue to push his message but is it time to reach a deal over the fiscal cliff? but the g.o.p. is not so keen on a deal, at least the one the white house presented yesterday. the first offer from president obama and treasury secretary timothy geithner included a $1.6 trillion tax increase along with an extension of the payroll answer it cut and unemployment insurance and a request for $50,000,000,000 worth of stimulus spending next year. now, it doesn't promise $400,000,000,000 worth of spending cuts but congressional

republicans call the deal unbalanced and unreasonable and saying there is not enough spending cuts and reforms. the one good piece of -- piece of good news to the white house on this is it shows president obama is opening strong not conceding. we will be right back. arguments to feel confident in their positions. i want them to have the data and i want them to have the passion. but it's also about telling them, you're put on this planet for something more. i want this show to have an impact beyond just informing. an impact that gets people to take action themselves. as a human being, that's really important. this is not just a spectator sport.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ music ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is "the bill press show". >> bill: all right. president obama has lunch with mitt romney and does not offer him a job. good. what do you say? good morning, everybody. guess what. it is friday ♪ hallelujah ♪ >> friday, november 30th. no matter what month it is.

no matter what friday is, we love our fridays here around the full court press. ♪ hallelujah ♪ >> we know you do as well. we are not going to let you get into the weekend before we bring you up to date on all of the latest here from our nation's capitol. lots of important stuff going on yesterday with the president meetings at the whitehouse on the fiscal cliff, a big press briefing yesterday, big white house correspondence party first holiday party of the season, jay carney and a lot of the white house press -- a lot of the white house press staff gathering together at the j.w. marriott just up the street from the white house. in new york, yesterday the united nations recognizing palestine as -- with a new observer status at the united nations. the u.s. voted against it for all of the wrong reasons, i believe, and the rebels in syria

showing more and more strength and gaining more and more territory. we have a lot to talk about this morning. good to have you with us. don't forget, you can join the conversation any time at 866-55-press. on twitter@bp show on facebook facebook.com/billpressshow. and there is this great little fun thing called the chat room going on all through the next three hours. we go to current.com and click on the chat room. join other listeners on your local progressive talk radio station. talk about the issues we are talking about. there we go. team press put in a whole week. >> believe it or not. >> talking points this week. peter ogburn. >> all right. >> with sipcyprian bowlding.

and he is still -- i know, you think he has spent six bucks yet. >> four bucks. i don't know. i don't know how he spent it. >> to dinner last night. >> could have bought a hot dog. can't even get a cup of coffee at starbucks. >> showing off his winnings his singles. make it rain, cyprian. you have four singles. yes. >> four singles. >> yeah. >> all right. well, it was, you know, last saturday president obama went shopping. he took his daughters over to arlington to an independent bookstore, picked up 15 children's books or 15 books anyway. they were gifts. so he was doing his bid. yesterday, it was vice president joe biden's turn. there is a brand-new costco store. wal-mart, no. costco, yes. >> we like costco. >> we like costco a lot.

and brand-new costco store opened here in washington, d.c. on new york avenue not far from here. the vice president went out to celebrate the opening and to do a little shopping of his own. he surprised everybody because, you know, you need a card when you go in. >> i have a card. >> and i get the card from carol when i go shopping at costco. joe biden, uh-uh. he proved he has his own. >> i didn't have my own card. jill wouldn't let me have one. i went to get my wife's card. she said no. no. no. you get your own. >> get your own. get your own. so he showed up with his card. and, you know, costco has everything. it's very, very quickly joe biden said, now, here is where i want to go first. >> to the liquor section? >> going to go to the liquor section. >> joe being joe. >> it's the holidays, man. did you see what he actually

purchased? it's an eclectic mix. >> children's books, fire logs a 32-inch panasonic t.v. and because he is a real american, he got a big apple pie that you get at costco. >> my god. fire logs. >> i know what they are. thinking samples, pudding, crackers and microwaves meats. he walked around the store eating them, the vice president of the united states walked around the store sampling pudding yesterday. >> we love joe. i love joe. >> right. >> i love joe. >> i also love that he was offered -- someone tried to sell him tires for his limo. >> i know. yeah. what don't they sell. >> biden said, hey hey, man, i don't need tires. i don't drive any more. >> bill: i have to tell you the thing about costco. i understand -- pardon me -- buy that apple pie, you look at the

shrimp platters, the food that they have, the meat section at costco is incredible. >> yeah. >> i find myself -- i am a compulsive shopper. i buy crap that i never -- i didn't go in there for and carol says, no, you are going for this and this and this and that's it. no. i come home with a load of stuff. i have to tell you, this is a true story the first time i went to costco, i was standing in front of this big bag of dog food with this -- it was like an incredible price, $10 for this huge bag of dog food and i almost bought it. we don't even have a dog. i don't have a dog. i tell you, and then i said to myself, what the helm i doing? i don't have a dog. >> sometimes, the value is just too damn good to pass up. it's a definition of something you don't need >> bill: fresh flowers, i get fresh flowers there and shrimp platters, they are incredible.

>> we could go three hours on costco >> bill: we could. we could. i am a big costco fan. tom harkin, senator tom harkin from iowa, we need more like tom harkin. he will be in studio with us. love it. congressman, as a.m. schiff from southern camera and also in studio with us. and richard fowler from react radio will join us a little later nus hour. we have a big line-up today. in case you haven't heard, president obama won on november 6th. >> what? >> bill: it keeps getting bigger and bigger. but first. >> this is the full court press. >> on this friday, other headlines making news, mitt romney reliable enjoyed being photographed in the oval office yesterday. someone had to probably remind him he was, in fact, was not the president and just a guest in the oval. the former candidate having lunch with president obama after an odd arrival, someone rushed his car as he was pulling into the white house. they were arrested by the secret service and the two put their

rivalry behind them, dined on southwestern grilled it chicken sadly and turkies chili. no word if that was made with thanksgiving leftovers. >> what was the name? >> toddler and gobbler. >> i don't know which one it was. yeah >> he came in the back door of the white house. there was no -- no press sight sightings, no nothing. >> did you see, by the way not yesterday yesterday, but i guess it was wednesday night, someone photographed him at a washington, d.c. mcdonald's? he had dinner at mcdonald's. seriously. >> is that right? >> yeah. >> a picture out there of him at mcdonald's. >> you have better restaurants in washington. >> so, i have heard. >> the moveon.org movement is having a effect on the department store's brand strength ugov which tracks loyalty to brands which shows the score for macy's among women has fallen by 40% in the last couple of weeks called the

recommend score, the index shows how many women would recommend the store to a friend of theirs. now, two points below the national average for a department store. before, it was well -- >> dump donald trump. dump the trump. >> chump. >> the annual list for the most popular baby name is out according to baby center.com. aden is the top boys name for the 8th straight year and sophia # 1 for the year. >> n eighth. >> yeah and sophia # 1 for girls for the third straight year. jackson, ethan, liam and emma tl tlizabella. >> brickahas, after the ferguson thing. >> no jango? >> no. >> the quentin teritino movie is. >> no magnus? no grey?

i saw this story yesterday. i think this is so great. and the bottom line here is that president obama, his victory on november 6th is bigger than we ever imagine. what does that mean? let's talk about it a little bit. first of all, do you know how this all started? a year out two years out, everybody was saying oh obama, toast. he is toast. no way he could get re-elected. he's been such a disaster. you know, couldn't get the debt ceiling increase without giving in on the bush tax cuts and didn't do anything about anything, didn't do anything about immigration reform and da-da-da-da. he was considered absolutely certain to lose. people were writing him off as a one-term president and the speculation about who was going to take his place and plus people were saying they would never be as excited in 2012 as

they were in 2008. so it was all of that, you know kind of scenario that was built going into this presidential election and, of course in the last couple of weeks of the election, the romney people were saying saying, we're going to win. no doubt about it. we are going to win. not only that, we are going to win big. look at the size of our crowd. look at the enthusiasm. everywhere romney went, people were turning out, national polls were tied. romney was ahead by one point or two points. it was in the bag for romney. the media bought into it hook line, and sinker. suckers and there was this whole thing. then of course what happened on election night? surprise surprise. # 1, president obama wins. # 1. no. 2, he wins, not only the electoral votesnumber 1, president obama wins. number 1. no. 2, he wins, not only the electoral votes overwhelmingly and when you add florida it was 332 to 206. that ain't close, folks.

not only that. he won the popular vote. helex night. no doubt about who won. he won 8 out of 9 of the battle ground states. that was sweet enough. okay? but here is the deal: a lot of people very long lost sight of. the president's margin keeps growing and growing and growing every day it gets bigger and bigger. because there are so many votes that weren't counted on november 6th and as of this morning, there is still like a million and a half uncounted votes out there, which is a amazing. think about it. the election right in the almost a month old. >> yeah. >> still a million and a half votes. many of them like a million votes in new york state. % why? because of hurricane sandy and the presinks they had to use like paper ballots and they haven't been able to count them all. parts of new jersey most of

those uncounted votes are up in the -- up in the northeast. so, as they are counting these votes t the president's total gets up and up and up. right now the count is the president has 65,000,069,89,000 romney 60,570. the president has a 5 million vent margin. that puts the president. still a million and a half to go at 50.9% of the vote. he will become in fact you have to say it's 51%. definitely 51%. that makes president obama only the second president in history to win two terms with more than 51% of the vote. the only other president who did that was dwight eisenhower in 52 and '56. >> that's an incredible statistic.

>> that really is. >> so it was a historic win for obama, historicwin. president obama beat mitt romney by more votes than george bush beat john kerry and we know that was a blowout. people think of that as a blow out. this was a bigger blowout. >> it all came down to battle ground statements. we knew it was going to come down to battleground states. looking at the votes in those states, and florida, obama's lead increased by more than 28,000 votes. >> bill: over the previous -- >> yeah. >> bill: 2008. yeah. >> exactly. in ohio, his lead went up by 50,000 votes. in virginia, he gained 40 more votes. >> bill: so he actually ran better in many of those battle ground states than he did in 2008. and here is the most delicious part of all. if president obama is a 51% mitt romney is at 47%.

47%. >> 47%. >> mitt romney's famous 47%. remember how he banged on the 47%, chapterized the 47%, ridiculed the 47%esis part of it, baby. he will forever be known as the 47 percenter. >> maybe there is a god and she is hilarious. because that is just too funny. >> isn't that cool? >> really cool. yeah. so he is part now of the 47%. >> that's probably what cost him the election. that will as much as anything else. now, he was part of it. here is my question to you as we go to this break. let's talk about it: so president obama has this powerful, powerful victory. will he use it? he's got the power. will he use it to get done what we've got to get done in this next four years? and will he use it to pound these republicans into coming on a sensible deal on the fiscal cliff? got the power. use it or lose it. >> this is the full court press,

"the bill press show," live on your radio, and on current tv. [ music ] that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

we've got to get done in this current tv.smocks

[ music ] [ music ] >> this is "the bill press show" >> bill: here we go 26 minutes after the hour on a friday, friday, november 30th. my latest column is about this susan rice nonsense. heading my column is: what did susan rice know? and when did she know it? check out the column at billpressshow.com. we are talking about president obama won this election

overwhelmingly when everybody said he didn't have a chance getting re-elected. of course, first we start out with joe biden at costco yesterday, peter. >> he want to costco. we are tweeting at bpshow. one person says romney was at the whitehouse eating free lunch. era now says on costco as a business, costco ceo makes a little over half a million and their workers are paid better than wal-mart employees. they are a good company. they represent workers very well and our good friend sam youngman reuters said on the guy who tried to sell biden tires t in a dreamworld he would double back and i get to see the look on president obama's face when he opens his simcoe. >> sam youngman, get your ass in here. >> we are working on it. >> bill: quickly before we go to the phones costco was

originally the price club. >> absolutely. >> founded by sal price, a great friend of mine from san diego, and i might say a sponsor and investor in this radio show . >> all right. >> very nice. >> passed away a couple of years ago, but a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, very generous man that does a great deal of good in san diego. arnold, other roving ambassador, arnold, what do you think? >> i am glad you had this news up about the margin of victory. >> isn't that great. >> let me tell you something. as a minority in this country, i am really happy because so many things went against us this voter suppression, all this rigging of they came up with. i hope everybody listens: the biggest suppression of votes are democrats. look at what happened in 2010. if we don't do the well of the people, it will happen again. >> we have to get out there and

vote, vote, vote. you know, arnold, this time imagine how much bigger the victory would have been if they hadn't tried to suppress the vote. >> this is "the bill press show." think they're in the final stages of a plan they hatched back probably at reagan's time [ music ] hand of government" ... i want to have that conversation. let's talk about it. really? you're going to lay people off because now the government is going to help you fund your healthcare. really? i want to have those conversations, not to be confrontational, but to understand what the other side is saying, and i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table.

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[ music ] >> chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is "the bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: >> bill: how about it? 33 minutes after the hour. don't you love fridays? well, this is a big one, friday, november 30th. great to see you here thank you so much for joining us here on the "full-court press" coming to you live from our nation's cap to me, our studio on capitol

hill and brought to you today by the international brotherhood of teamsters. we live better thanks to the good work of the teamsters, men and women of the teamsters union under president jim hoffa. find out more about their good work by going to the website, ww dots team-- www.teamster.org. >> with these tough times, looking for extra income >> you didn't win the powerball. you can't count on that. you might look into income at home.com. they are america's leading work from home business doing business in over 80 countries today and offering you an opportunity that you can easily take advantage of, no matter your age, education or experience as long as you have a little spare time. you can literally earn money from your own laptop on your own kitchen enemitable 24/7. but, you know, can't do it unless you check it out. so if you are sick of living paycheck to paycheck worried

about job security or retirement, if your goal is to earn extra money from home participated time or full-time -- part-time or full-time, incomeathome. giving away a thousand bucks to somebody just for checking them out. that somebody, lucky person, could be you. check them out at incomeathome.com. >> that's incomeathome.com. sort of at a standstill right now over the fiscal cliff with president obama making it very very clear he's got a plan. he's put it forward. president obama says we need a combination of spending cuts and new revenue. he put out the spending cuts and he said the new revenue has to come with from getting rid of the tax cuts on the wealthiest of americans. meanwhile, we will get a tax cut to the 98 -- to 98% of americans, up to $250,000 a year, and the republicans say

no. no deal unless we get a tax cut for our buddies, millionaires and billionaires we are not going to play. will we get anywhere closer to a deal? >> the big talk in washington, d.c. joining us to look at that is our good friend, richard fowler, host of "the richard fowler hour" on react radio. >> you know, i think the deal is questionable. i think we will get one, though >> bill: you do? >> i think we will get a deal. i was seeing this yesterday. if republicans letgous over the cliff, january 1st comes and, you know the deal is a different dealer. you know, we are winning the deck. >> in the sense we will have more votes in the senate. >> yeah. >> more in the shouse. won't have control in the house. there are a lot of people. i don't know whether you have heard them on your show bebut a lot of listeners have said they would rather have -- a lot of

liberals and progressives would rather see us go over the cliff than accept a bad deal. and i think that's where the white house is, too, meaning if the republicans say that they really stick to tax cuts have to continues for the wealthiest 2%, obama local veto rather than make a bad deal. do you agree? >> i completely degree. the president has drawn a clear line in the sand on this whole idea of the tax cuts. he said at every campaign speech. if you make over a quarter of a million dollars, your taxes will go up. it's just that simple. i think the republicans have even sort of moved a little bit to the left on this. they are like, you know, we are willing to put a come-along with that. there are some republicans you are. you are never going to get michelle bachmann paul ryan god bless america. for all of the other ones moderate republicans and those are like, wait a second. i am going to be in a tough primary fight. in the mid-term election, going to be in the mid-term fight against a democratic candidate. they are going to have to come to the middle. i think there is also, new

republicans republicans, you know, in the united states congress like the bob corker's of this world, pat tumis whom say let's get something done because if we don't, it will be unpopular and we will get nothing done. >> the question is whether john boehner is going to be able to get that vote of the tea party members of the house. so far, what i find disgusting, if the republicans could have made this deal six months ago because they were so cocky. they figured they were going to knock obama out, it was going to be a different world. right? so they went home and said we will wait for the election. and let the people decide. we will be in charge after this eriction. guess what. >> that's what they did. and they lost. >> exactly >> bill: they got busted. they lost their ass. so now, they refuse to recognize there was an election. right? they refuse to accept the results of the election. >> you are completely right. beyond that point, i don't think

they need the 80 tea party members to vote with them. they just need a coalition >> bill: you know what they need? they need to schedule a vote. >> exactly. >> bill: that's what boehner has to do. >> that's what he won't do >> bill: there is no doubt in my mind if he scheduled a vote at this point, enough republicans would join democrats to pass the tax cut for 98% of the american people. >> i completely agree with you. i think beyond that, if you put a vote right now on the floor to end sequestration, there will be a lot of democrats to come on board and a lot of republicans. when you are talking about cuts to education talking about cuts to pel grants, talking about cuts to entitlement spending, there are people going to jump on board quick to end that. they know it's going to be bad. it might not be in the national larger picture but in their local home district that depends upon education title i for kids to go to school they are i have to vote for my district. >> that's a problem john boehner and mitch mcconnell have

>> bill: there is this back and forth and boehner saying we haven't made any progress and all of that. it's just the same ol' crap but i really believe before the end of the year, we will see a tax cut for 98% of americans and we will see a tax increase for the top -- for the top 2%. there is no doubt about it. one final point i want to ask you about something, a couple of other things, too. yesterday, i was reading in the report of it in "the new york times" while i was in the white house for the briefing yesterday, the meetings were going on with the chamber of commerce. actually, it was the day before, with the chamber of commerce i believe. and they went in to say, we need to -- we need to continue these bush tax cuts. and jack lou the chief of staff said, it ain't going to happen. it ain't going to happen. we are not going to sign a deal to increase those tax cuts. and the meeting was over. and then they grabbed tom donahue, the head of the chamber of commerce, took him into the oval office on an unscheduled one on one with president obama.

obama wanted to deliver the message himself and he looked him in the eye and said you are wasting your time. i am not going to sign that bill. so i think it's pretty clear. >> yeah. i think this is a new -- i think the word was when he gave his first press conference after coming back from the electoral victory with this white house with a lot more test off theosterone than the white house previously and not only the fiscal cliff but the susan rice. send her down there. send the cia down there. we are not moving and we are not going to let yougo get away with villinizing our administration a new obama going into the next 4iers. i am hoping we will see a lot more progressive reforms because of it. >> i hope you are right, too. we talked about this. something i want to get to at the top of the hour. obama has every reason right? to feel the power and exercise the power. every day -- i mean he won. okay? he won on november 6th, the popular vote the electoral vote overwhelmingly but i didn't

realize there are still millions of votes still uncounted and every day, his margin keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. he is now a 51%, and romney is at 47%. there is something magic about the 47%. right? >> beautifully reviewed up. it's so good >> bill: the fact he ends up part of the 47%. obama, 51%. he beat romney by more than george bush beat john kerry in 2004. >> that's a solid, solid victory. he has a mandate. >> i think he definitely has a mandate. >> do you think he knows it? >> i think he knows he has a mandate. he has a mandate. his 8 pick-ups in the house shows he has a mandate. i think the fact people waited 4 hours in line shows he has a mandate. the fact romney didn't win his home state, bath state or father's state and the paul ryan, and i think the president won states like virginia every battleground. >> florida. >> the president wins that sounds like a mandate. >> eight out of nine, a mandate.

he becomes the -- he is now the only president. there are two presidents in history that have won two terms with more than -- with 51% or more of the vote. the only other one was eisenhower beating stevens 52 and 56. i saw that factoid this morning. this was a historic victory for the man that everybody wrote off -- not everybody, but the republicans and a lot of pahvantits were writing off as being a one-term president a year ago. >> completely. i think now is the time. i said this a lot on my show. as progressives, our job is to bring -- what we need to do is bring our issues to washington. you know like sally goes to washington. we need to bring all of the issues student loan reform, if it's immaterialgration reform, we need to bring it to washington. if it's medicare and medicaid, we need to bring it to washington. >> global warming. >> exactly. anything that comes to the president's desk i think in the

next four years, he's going to sign it if it's a progressive policy. we can't just depend upon him to do it. now, it's our job to push it through the congress. and i think that's our number 1 prior to for the next 4 years. >> absolutely. and to keep that grass wraiths activism, you know, aliveroots activism, you know, alive and use it to support the agenda 866-55-press. in fact, remember, we talked about this yesterday, the president, let's get into this when we come back. the president is asking for a big grassroots effort right now to tell congress what that extra $2,000 means to you $2,000 you would have to pay in taxes if they don't approve this continued tax cut for the middle class. it's hashtag my2k. we will be right back on today's "full-court press." >> on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." [ music ]

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. do you share the sense of outrage that they're doing this, this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is. i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa.

[ music ] >> heard around country and seen on current tv, this is "the bill press show." >> bill: here we go, it's 12 minutes before the top of the hour. bp, famous for the gulf oil spill, of course, they have been kind of shutdown by the federal government saying you are not going to get any more government contracts until we know that you are environmentally safe. we will talk about that at the top of the next hour here right now, richard fowler from react radio is our guest in studio talking about the fiscal cliff and other political news from

washington, d.c. yesterday, a historic luncheon at the whitehouse. >> peter: we are not serving turkey chili. we put up a picture of obama and romney in the oval. it's about as close as romney will ever get to that desk. we have it up on facebook for a caption contest. share yours. we will share some of the best ones on the air. facebook.com. >> we are just getting started. >> just getting started. nothing yet. we will let you know here soon some of the captions we get >> bill: go wild. be wicked. peter: have fun with it >> bill: i hope he rubbed it in a little bit. you thought you were going to win. >> do you want to have a seat in this chair? just kidding. >> bill: i. >> i am wondering if he was like, barack, can i have a seat?

i hope he at least asked. i am not saying obama should have let him. >> bill: i doubt that he asked. >> i think the president would be thanks for coming down. we appreciate you a well-fought. >> bill: the president unlike the three of us. >> peter: right. i would be a total jerk. >> i agree. >> bill: was a class act, i am sure all the way, took the high road and fought"you for the a great campaign" >> peter: now get out. >> the 47% of those would have voted now, okay. 51%. >> peter: yeah >> bill: i was going to say when i was a young reporter from los angeles, t.v. reporter, i came back to the white house, ronald reagan was president and he was out of town. i had a friend of mine who was cabinet secretary, secretary for the cabinet who gave me a little tour of the west wing. i don't think you could do this any more. i don't think the secret service will let you do it. we took -- mycamman and i took

us into the oval office and i sat in the desk. i sat -- >> peter: what? >> bill: i sat at the president's desk and had my picture, you know, and did a little kind of stand-up. secret service would never let you do that now. >> peter: sheet pretty bad. >> that's cool. i can't say i have gotten a west wing tour. i have been for meetings. they are good and i love. you get walking into the room you are supposed to be in and like don't leave this room. don't go to the bathroom. don't think about moving. >> peter: i don't mean to brag. i have never been to the white house. ifbl to a white castle. it's bigger than a house. >> gentleman. >> >> bill: the pet says, look one way, during campaign he was criticized by saying change in washington doesn't come from inside of washington. it comes from outside of washington.

that's point you were making before the break? >> exactly. >> bill: now, the president is saying if we really want this tax cut for the 98% of americans on all income up to $250,000 a year, people have to put pressure on congress and he has asked them to go action use the hash tag, hash tag my2k. do you think this will work. >> i think it will. we saw it when the president was of was trying to use the don't double my rates for students loans. one of the tweets yesterday that was interesting, somebody tweeted, listen, i need this $2,000 to pay my student loan debt. the white house and the president retweeted that debt. i think that shows that putting pressure on your local chamber of -- member of congress, we saw on don't do you believe my rates, they shut down the congressional switchboard. putting the power back on the american people and on progressives, i think, is exactly what the president needs to do. i think we need to see more of that. but, i also do believe

promotionives -- progressives we need to put pressure on the part and say, listen, we are going to bring the bill down. we are going to have ours out in front of the capitol and force members of congress to do it and need the putresident to help us push it through t after we get through the fiscal cliff or speed bump or whatever you want to call it, my hope is that, you know, young people mil lennials will bring to washington what we haven't seen in the last four years and bring our agenda student loans, debt reform. something has to happen. only chance. immigration reform dream act. we need to push these things through. i think going into this next two years at least starting with the new congress, we are going to find a conciliatory republican party. they don't know what to do with themselves. maybe we can trick them into going for our stuff >> bill: if they want us to buy, they better open doors and reach out. richard fowler, great to have

you in studio. follow richard at weactradio.com or on twitter @richardkfowler. >> yes. >> we never get through all of the issues we want to talk about. you do great work. >> all right. >> good luck with your show tonight. >> thank you. >> bill: i will be back and take a quick look at some of your comments from the mail bag. >> this is the full court press, "the bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. [ music ] show, to be able to come away armed with the facts, and the arguments to feel confident in their positions. i want them to have the data and i want them to have the passion.

[ music ]

>> taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> okay. we asked you yesterday what that 2 dollars would mean to you at hash tag my2k. jose says my daughter and her husband lost their jobs. soon after that, they last their home. they are living with me. $2,000 means i would not be able to pay for my granddaughter's pre-school next year. >> kim boyes says between my neighbor and my family, we would have $4,000 to use after replacing a broken fence and gates between our properties. there is something real down to earth. newt gingrich says he may run for office again. wayne d. says i want to no, ma'am name him for the first president on the moon. i would like to send him to the moon with or without a rocket. and reverend jones says to me, bill, for somebody who claims to have been born catholic you are

an embarrassment. you need to repent your evil sins or ends up in the great lake of fire >> this is "the bill press show."

[ music ] >> good morning, friends and neighbors. it is friday, november 30th. good to see you today. welcome to the "full-court press" here on current tv coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours and bringing you up to date on all of the news of the day hear this friday morning. we will tell you what's happening here in our nation's capitol, around the country, around the globe and take your

calls, get you involved in the conversation, give you a chance to sound off give us a call at 866-55-press, and guess what. the election results are in and president obama won. oh, yeah. well, we knew that he won on november 6th, the popular vote and the electoral vote but guess what. every day his margin of victory gets bigger and beggar and beg bigger. he has a 5 million lead. president obama has 51% of the vote and mitt romney is only 47. yet, mitt romney is part of the 47%. how sweet is that? well talk more about that and a whole lot more but first, today's latest, today's current news update from lease a ferguson out in los angeles. hi, lease a. good morning to you. >> hey, bill. good morning to you, and good morning to all of you guys out there. the fiscal cliff is getting close now. it's just a month away. with fears of the tax hike coming, some businesses are scrambling to make a big profit before december 31st.

now, obviously holiday shopping will help with that. but many are saying that's just not enough. deal makers and their clients are hustling to sell stocks and even entire companies, all in an effort to get that money in their pockets before the new year. this week, secretary of state hillae clinton is joining in on the conversation, calling it an issue of national security. >> that's because if congress fails to pass a budget deal in the next 31 days we could see dangerous consequences, not only for the u.s. standing in the world but, also for the entire global economy. clinton spoke with the brookins institute yesterday and said while europe does need to fix its own props, much of the -- problems, much of the burden is on washington to build stronger foundationsats home. house speaker boehner said yesterday that he was seeing no progress in negotiations but the democrats, they don't really agree with that too much. they think the g.o.p. is ready to cave in and pass the plan that would extend the bush tax cuts for everyone except the top 2%. now, that's of course a pretty

big gamble but since many republicans are calling for the same and back away from norquist's pledge, the democrats do feel like they have some pretty big leverage. that deal would just solve part of the problem and put much of the negotiations off until next year. we'll be right back. alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get

refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later.

[ music ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current t.v. this is "the bill press show." >> bill: all right. the lunch with barack obama and mitt romney is over. the photograph is out. now we have to put a caption on it. you have to help us do so. good morning everybody. it is friday, friday november 30th. good to see you today. welcome to the "full-court press."

coming to you live all the way this great land of outside on your local progressive talk radio station if you are lucky enough to have one. if you are i hope you know how lucky you are. we are coming to you live on current tv as well. good to have you with us. join the conversation any time at 866-55-press. the environmental protection agency telling bp after you pay that big fat fine for wrecking the gulf by your drilling procedures, we are not going to let you get any more federal contracts until you prove to us that you have really cleaned up your act. tyson slocomb is in studio too talk about that and other issues. tyson, welcome. >> great to be here. good morning >> bill: nice to see you and to join our team, peter ogburn and dan henning.

cyprian on the video cam. good to see you. peter, just started this section. the white house wouldn't let any of us reporters in to take photographs or to see the two men sitting down to lunch or whatever. but they released the official white house photograph. we put it up on our website this morning. we are asking people what the appropriate caption might be. >> check it out. >> like the new yorker contest where you put the caption on the feet. >> yeah, the back of it. >> like that. we put it up on facebook facebook.com/billpressshow. >> says mitt, you are a little close to that desk. come sit on the couch. >> bill: inching toward the desk >> peter: come over this way a little bit. hey, mitt, they delivered the drapes yesterday. want to take them with you when you leave? david davidson says so that's what crow tastes like. josh jakobs says karl rove said

this was my house. now we have to figure out where i can put a car elevator in this place. this all could have been yours. money doesn't buy everything you know. and congratulations, mitt, you are the officially the u.s. ambassador to palestine. facebook.com/billpressshow. >> people are into it this morning. aren't they? >> now on the weather/scientific front, today is the last day of hurricane season 2012. it turns out that we know not just hurricane sandy. it was a pretty big season. jack bevins is with the hurricane watch service, national hurricane center. thank you. >> we are expecting a fairly active year. it may have been in terms of the named storms a little bit more active than what we were expecting.

>> and he gives us the full court. >> we get 19 main storms during the year 10 of which became hurricanes. at the present time, we know that one of these hurricanes is actually a major hurricane, category 3 or higher. >> bill: you know what's funny? i don't remember, the only one i remember is sandy. right? but 19 of them this year. have you seen more that could be related to global warming. >> the scientists tell us that there is going to be an increase because of global warming in the number and in the severity of hurricanes. now, we can't look at one hurricane event and say, this is a result of climate change, but what you can absolutely demonstrate is that climate change and global warming is leading to more hurricanes action more severe storms and as a result, we as a country, have to start being realistic about the science.

we have to start preparing for climate adaptation in addition to coming together and getting a federal strategy on ardsing greenhouse gas emissions from our energy. >> bill: amen to that. if not now, when? and how much longer are we going to wait? we will get into that issue with tyson slocumb. tom hankins from iowa will be joining us in the next hour and dylan byers, media reporter for politico will be along as well. busy, busy morning here on the full court press. we love it that way. but first. >> this is -- >> dan? what do you got. >> other headlines making news on this friday. the man who got mitt romney's presidential campaign logo tatooed on his face is now having regrets. politico reports -- >> now he has regrets. getting a face tatoo? okay. >> eric heartsburg wants the tatoo removed because he says

romney, who he enthusiastically supported is shameful and has no dignity. heartsburg says romney is a sore lose loser. >> who is he accusing someone of having no dignity. >> i think that's how every romney supporter feels. >> says he is a sore lose her and loses any shred of credibility for blaming someone for buying votes and paying off people. experts say it will take about a year for the tatoo to be removed. he was paid $15,000, by republicans, to get that at that time too. >> idiot. >> i wonder how much to get it removed. >> i have done a lot of dumb things but never a face tatoo. >> it will be covered. >> by obama care? wouldn't that be great? >> a couple of thousandbucks. >> get it on your butt. i might get a romney tattoo right on my ass. >> joe biden went bulk shopping yesterday. the vice president showing up to

a brand newspaper costco in d.c. where he got aneclectic mix of items, children's books, fire starter logs, a new television and an apple pie. white house report states he had his fair share of free samples, too, a common place in the big box store >> bill: he said he wanted to head for the liquor aisle. >> he should have walked in >> bill: you don't buy a bottle of gin here >> peter: a big thing of gin and a giant box of condoms. we could have seen what would have happened. there is a. >> there is a new trend of performance enhancement creeping up, buzzfeed reports some are using viagra. yes, the little blue pill because it helps move oxygenated blood around the body. >> it does. >> giving them more energy on the playing field. doctors say you wouldn't notice anything extra in the pants because it kicks in, in that way when they are sexually stimulated. >> i thought they were hitting a

little harder. >> bill: this is... >> i don't even think we want to pur see this. >> no. we should. >> how much more on that? >> peter: long, very long. >> oh man. >> bill: okay. thank you, dan, for that. >> you got it >> bill: let's get on to bp here not like this on the full court press in the morning. bp had to pay a fine of $4,000,000,000. >> 4 billion. >> plus another half a billion to the securities and exchange commission. so it was a total of criminal penaltities of 4 and a half$4 and a half billion dollars. >> this is over and above whatever they had to pay for the clean-up. right? >> that's right. they set aside a $20 billion fund voluntarily to compensate victims. there is also going to be additional penalties as part of civil violations of the clean

water act, estimated to be 21 billion. >> that's probably going to be handed down in the next few months. this is just to settle criminal charges for the company pled guilty to 14 criminal guilty pleas, 11 counts 50 seaman's manslaughter, a criminal violation of the clean water act, a migratory bird act and for obstruction of justice, for submitting false information to the congressional investigation during the summer of 2010. >> the 20 billion clean-up fund the 21mul billion. >> for the clean water. >> billion? 41? so this criminal fine was? >> four and a half 689. >> >>.

>> so $50,000,000,000. >> the company said aside all of that money. they had been selling off assets and they've got a huge cash reserve and the 20 billion for clean up that's in the fund. >> they can absorb this and stay in business? >> absolutely. >> that's been their plan. >> then, on top of that, epa this week. >> right. >> said basically to bp, you are not going to get any more if he had cal contracts. you have proven to us you can separate safely? correct? >> that's right. bp is the large event fuel supplier for the department defense. last calendar year they had contracts worth $135,000,000,000, mainly to the air force, which uses a lot of jet fuel. >> yeah. >> and bp was far and away the largest fuel supplier to the department of defense. they also are the largest offshore -- holder of offshore

leases. they have over 700 leases. they have seven active wells in the gulf of mexico so when the epa made this announcement, the department of interior, the federal agency that overseas gulf of mexico leasing echoed that access to leases would also be off limits until this matter is resolved. now, here is where -- >> bill: can they survive this as a company? >> i think it will be very difficult but the problem here is that bp immediately issued a statement after the epa made its announcement and bp said we are in mature talks with the epa. we have submitted a 100-page document outlining how we are a responsible contractor, how these criminal please pleas do not interfere and a lot of financial analysts predict that this will be resolved in a matter of weeks and bp's status as a contractor in good standing will be

reinstated. i think that's problematic because when a corporation just like an individual please guilty to criminal -- to felonies i think that there need to be repercussions. there need to be sanctions as part of that. and at public citizen we don't think that fellons should be receiving lucrative government contracts or access to lucrative federal leases. >> bill: fellons can't vote in most states. right? >> that's right. and so we think that this is a central component. and so we are going to have an action up on our website at "citizens.org" later today for folks to communicate with the environmental protection agency and say don't give in to bp. let's make sure that these -- that getting rid of their contracting status is in force for the leapt of the criminal

probation period as part of the 4 and a half billion dollar sets sets bp also agreed to a five-year criminal probation period. >> i see. >> we think that they shouldn't be allowed to get contracts for the duration of that criminal probation period. >> yeah. >> which would really handicap the company. >> it would. the $160 billion value of the company is in oil production mainly in the gulf of mexico. united states oil production is about a quarter of the value of the company. so it wouldn't bankrupt it, but again, we have to talk about morals and ethics that we can't just say we need to look the other way just because this company is a major player. 11 people are dead. 5 million barrels of crude oil are in the gulf of mexico. we still don't know what the full extent of the damage to the eco system is. so they can pay these fines, but

we shouldn't let corporate criminals off of the hook just because they can writed a big check. >> now here is what -- i would like to know how much money. let me put it that way, that bp has spent on t.v. commercials painting themselves as the great greatest friend the environment had. i want to throw up when i see those things on the network news but they are run them all the time. >> absolutely. >> they are slick, you know. they are like those that wal-mart was running, look at these women and minorities that work at wal-mart, you know, and bp, they have these people down there talking about what a great company they are and how much they have done to clean up the environment. so they are waging a huge pr campaign to try to get their reputation back. >> absolutely. i mean it would have been great if, as part of the criminal settlement that the department of justice got that they forced -- that they would have forced bp to disclose what their advertising and marketing budget

has been. bp has been giving lots of cash to the tourism bureaus of gulf states. >> yeah. buying them off. >> i am all for the gulf states trying to get folks back to that great part of the country, but we need to be honest here, that this was a corporation that has a long history of criminal violations. we have to remember that this deep water horizon incidents wasn't the first time that the company killed workers at its facilities or damaged the environment. the company was on criminal probation at the time of the april, 2010 deep water horizon, for two major events. one was the march, 2005 refinery explosion in texas city, texas, that killed 15 workers. there, multiple federal investigations found that management issues led to that disaster. and then, the other was in 2006, when bp managers knew that their

alaska pipelines were core reading and it resulted in the largest on shore oil spill in vans history. >> bp worse than you think. are they going to get off of the hook with the epa? we hope not. tyson slocum from public citizen at citizen.org. we will be back to continue our conversation. join us at 866-55-press. >> this is "the bill press show." . [ music ] right have, about the "heavy hand of government" ... i want to have that conversation. really? you know i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table.

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the best for last. [ music ] >> this is bill press show bill: 24 minutes after the hour friday november 30, one of our real heros, senator tom harkin coming in studio with us in the next segment. visiting right now with adam schiff, good friend from southern california. you can follow him on twitter twitter @repadamschiff. we will put the link up on our

website. peter, what's happening in the social media world? >> peter: weigh in on facebook.com/billpresshow. on twitter black cat says bar barack is taking the fiscal cliff message to the people. isn't that what democracy is about? for these people think he is campaigning, this is democracy in action. >> i love the fact that mitch mcconnell and john boehner are whining about the fact that president obama is out on the road again. this is what ronald reagan did. >> exactly. exactly. oh, yeah. absolutely. and it's part of the job. >> yeah. ? >> you would hope that the president is engaged in a dialogue with the american people on the issues that are central importance to the country. >> called the bully pulpit. he won it. he was talking to a colleague of yours in the house the other day. and i mentioned, you know, because just butefore you guys came back, got here to save us from going over the fiscal cliff, and he said why not go

over the cliff? it's not a cliff. it's a slope. if you look at it, the immediate impact won't be so bad. and he said, i think it might be better to go over the cliff than accept a bad deal. do you agree? >> well, he is right in the sense that it's not a cliff. it is a gradual slope. but i don't think we can afford to go over the cliff. i think it would have a significant adverse effect on the economy at a time where poised to pull out of this recession and post recessionary period. so it has to be avoided. i do agree with him in this respect, though that the g.o.p. has a lot more to lose politically if we go over the cliff. it's position in a post-cliff world will be far weaker with a lot less leverage. all of the bush tax cuts will have gone away. some maintain that in that environment, if the president put forward a tax cut bill for all of those under 250,000, that

the republicans would reject it and insist on something for the wealthiest as william. that just isn't realistic. i can't imagine that in that kind of environment when given the option of extending tax cuts or reinstating them for all of those middle class families that the g.o.p. would stand in the way. so from a leverage point of view, i think the g.o.p. one of the reasons i think they are starting to cave on the issue is they realize they are in a far weaker position. >> as you point out let's say we get up to the deadline and the republican position still is: no on the 98% unless we get the tax cuts extended for the top two % as well. you are president obama. do you take that deal or say no deal? >> you say no deal. you say no deal. >> you have to. don't you? >> the election has to have meant something. this was a central facet of the election that, you know, those who have done well and in the last 10 years, you know, the

story of the country unfortunately, has been that middle class families have stagnated or fallen back. working class families have definitely lost ground but those who have done well have done really well including in the last decade. it's fair to does them to do more. the country voted on it and said that's got to be part of the balance package. >> we have 30 seconds. it's not just a fiscal cliff. immigration reform, global warming, two key issues. are we going to see action on those? >> i sure hope so. i hope that given all of the really unequivocal evidence on global warming, we need to and given what the g.o.p. has seen in the last election on immigration, there is a new activity we have never seen before. >> maybe john mccain may come back and support it. congressman adam schiff, thank you for what you are doing for the people of california and the people of the next day nation. >> pleasure. >> see you again soon i hope.

when we come back senator john harkin from iowa may be the chance to get the filibuster reform he is talking about. >> this is "the bill press show." armed with the facts, and the arguments to feel confident in their positions. i want them to have the data and i want them to have the passion. but it's also about telling them, you're put on this planet for something more. i want this show to have an impact beyond just informing. an impact that gets people to take action themselves. as a human being, that's really important. this is not just a spectator sport.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> announcer: it's the full court press. the bill press show. live on current tv. >> it's a beautiful friday morning, a little chilly, but so what in our nation's capitol. thank you for joining us on the full court press coming from our studio on capitol hill brought to you by labor's national union of north america.

building a better america and check out their website. we're so pleased and proud to welcome to the studio at this hour a great friend of ours, a great american and a great progressive. senator tom harkin from iowa. welcome senator. >> it's great to be back. >> how great would this country be if we had 50 tom harkins and 50 bernie sanders. >> i just love bernie sanders. we do great work together. we had a good election. >> we had a good night. >> we had a great night really, except for the house but we won some seats back in the house. we have new progressive democrats coming in from the united states senate. the new team is pretty darn good.

>> and good people coming back. we're joined by liz warren, and the tammy baldwin. >> yes, it's great. >> very exciting. the last time we talked was by phone but you were out on the campaign trail in iowa, i remember. the win--we talked about this earlyier senator--president obama's popularity win grows every day. 51%. romney 47%. he won eight out of nine battleground states, and the majority votes. he has the wind at his back. >> i'm sure. any way you look at it the american people spoke loudly and

clearly. they much prefer the policies of obama and what the democrats are representing. i think cloudy and clearly said, the present tax system is not fair, it's not right, we need to raise revenues on those who can afford it. that was the clear message. >> that was the central issue in this campaign. >> no doubt about it. that's what obama was debating. he said above 250 he stuck with that. the republicans said no, and that was a clear and defining statement in this campaign. >> if you feel they should pay taxes on $250,000, then you vote for me. if you don't then the vote for the republicans. >> there it is. >> i want to see how that

translates into negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff. but senator first the other issue that has come front and center, one that you've been spearheading for a long time, and you and i have talked about now senate president harry reid has to be on the agenda is filibuster reform. is it going to happen, and how do you think it's going to shape up? >> well, bill, i hope it happens. i hope we clearly see because of this dinosaur that we have. it's an old dinosaur hung around our next called the filibuster. not in the constitution. it's never really been in the senate. it's something of recent vintage. it really started back when the southern democrats wanted to stop civil rights, and the filibuster sprung up and it was used for that purpose. the republicans have picked up on it. the southern republicans who used to be the southern democrats, and they're now using

it to stop everything. it was never intended as a way of stopping things. you can slow things down. there's nothing wrong with the senate slowing thing down. i don't have a problem with that. but the minority should not be able to stop something. look at it this way we're the only democracy in the world wherein a minority decides what hases. not the majority, the minority. >> i thought it was 51 votes that carried the day right? >> i was in europe this summer in a conference, and i was talking to parliamentarians. they were befuddled by this. how could they decide what goes on the senate floor. i had a hard time explaining it because it defies explanation. that's why we need to get rid of the filibusterer. >> you were saying last time in our last conversation something under lbj.

>> one, one filibuster. >> the whole time he was-- >> when he was president and vice president. that takes in civil rights act voting right acts, medicare--all those things passed, only one filibuster. >> and today these days the republicans have used it--i think in 2007 harry has had to file 300 petitions. i know it's over 300. it become a handful of minority to just stop things. just stop it. and like i say it defies explanation. >> the solution to end it or amend it. >> i started 17 years ago on this trying to end it. i think the filibuster should be ended. i think we should have a system where the minority can slow things down in order to engender

debate, get the public alerted to what the majority is doing but they shouldn't have the power to stop something. i also believe that the minority should have the right to offer amendments that are germane germane to the legislation on the floor. so if you have a defense bill on the floor like we do now. if you have an amendment on the defense, fine. if you have an amendment on abortion or gun control or some other thing like that, that was not germane. and so i think the minority should have the right to be able to offer germane amendments. >> so that's the direction you're going in. >> the direction we're going in, bill there is now a move now to say that we don't have a filibuster on the motion to proceed, okay. >> right. >> and going into conference. then all other filibusters would be a talking filibuster. >> oh, got it. >> you have to be there, and you have to talk. and the way--

>> the old strom thurmond kind of filibuster. >> to my way of thinking, it's not as far as i would go, but it's a step in the right direction. one or two people with object, and then they don't stay there and talk. >> it's like a virtual filibusterer. >> they just go home. under these new proposed rules that senators udall and murphy have been working on, and i've been somewhat a part of that which says if you're going filibuster you have to talk. as on a as you quick talking the chair says the filibuster is over with. >> just so our listeners understand, this can be done at the beginning of next session of congress under the rules with just 51 votes this is the moment. >> this is the moment to do it when we convene in january. >> and with leader reid wanting to do that, it looks like something might happen, and with

51 votes. >> yes, we need 51, and i can tell you that president obama has changed his mind on this, too. when he was a senator there is a quote that he made about the filibuster, and supportive of it. i can tell you that i have spoken with him on the campaign trail, and he is now seeing that this is not right. it's not right that a handful of people can stop things in the united states senate. we now have the president on our side. hopefully we'll change that rule. at least if we continue with filibusters, at least people have to stay on the floor and talk. they can't just go home and close things down. >> know senator the united states senate has passed a bill which would give 98% of americans a tax break. 100% of americans a tax break on income under $250,000 a year. why won't the house pass it?

>> i've said at the white house. there is all this talk about the fiscal cliff entitlements, this and that, there is a lot of static. a lot of people say what does that mean? there is a simple way for the white house to attack this. it's called 3712, senate bill 3712. all the house has to do is pass it. >> bipartisan vote in the senate. >> bipartisan vote in the senate. i heard the other day that congressman tom cole from oklahoma was supportive of it. they'll get all the democrats to sign it, pick up a few republicans, the president can sign it tomorrow. that way every working american, middle class people will know their tax also not go up on january 1st. if i were the president i would be banging on the senate pass

3412. and. >> and then all of these other stuff and other issues, the debt ceiling, the packses on the wealthyiest and all that, you can pass that, but get the 98 passed. >> yes. well, what is the christmas shopping season like? well, that's made up of middle class families. if they know that their taxes are not going to go up next year they're going to be willing to go out and spend a little more in the christmas season. >> senator tom harkin from iowa. you have a chance to ask a question call 86,655 press the full court press on a friday. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the bill press show.

bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. rich, chewy caramel rolled up in smooth milk chocolate. don't forget about that payroll meeting. rolo.get your smooth on. also in minis.

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

[ ♪ music ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "the bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: hey what a way to go into the weekend. we talked about this at the top of the hour. we're talking with our good friend senator tom harkin, a long-time hero of mine here in the studio with us. before we talk about any other issues, from fonda iowa, you've probably been there. >> sure. >> bill: here is tom from fonda

iowa. >> caller: senator, good to talk to you again. my daughter who is a national delegate in north carolina and placed this question at you and now on national tv i'm going to ask you the same question. and it is this: senator, are you going to be running again? the rumor that around iowa, steve king who you may or may not know or heard of, will be running for your seat. so--and bruce bailey, and so on national tv, senator i'm going to ask you, are you running again? >> bill: john we'll take your answer on the air. senator tom harkin. >> well, john, i said just the other day there has to be a break from campaigning. we have a lot of on our plate. bill and i were just talking about what we're going to do in terms of making sure we save

medicare, social security, and make sure we're in a fair tax system and get out of this mess. there are a lot of things we're engaged in right now. i'm not focusing on that. i will tell you this i've already hired an internet team for my fundraising and i have some events set up already after the first of the year, but there will be time to make that announcement later on. >> when are you up for re-election? >> this time, 2014. so i'll be making an announcement on that later on. >> bill: i want you to know that i'm counting on you to run again. when you do, i will be in iowa any time you want me to, i'll do anything you want on your behalf especially if steve king is our opponent. i'm sorry that our candidate cindy--

>> christie. >> bill: wasn't able to do it this time around. senator, you have represented and survived as a proud liberal never never compromiseed your principles, or felt that you had to go to the middle to get re-elected. how did you do it? and what does that say as a liberal. >> maybe i ought to write a book on it. >> bill: yes, yes. >> i think what it says is the best--i think the best position for any politician to be in is in a position where you adhere to your beliefs and you let people know why it is that you vote the way you do or the positions you take. and don't hide. don't hide behind some false front. i see so many people who are so afraid to vote. oh i can't vote on this. i want vote on that, and they're twisted in all kind of knots.

vote how your conscious tells you, an informed conscience, and take up the issues. i tell people this this is the way i vote this way. this is my position. i don't win 87% of the vote, but i don't have to. i've always had good support even from independents or some republicans who may not agree with my positions but they find, at least i hope they find that i'm reasonable, i'm willing to listen and take in those issues. i don't turn a deaf ear or shut the door to republicans who come in and say they have ideas. well, maybe they have something there. >> bill: we had four states that voted on the initiative to support same-sex marriage marriage equality this year. two states voted vote the legalization

of marijuana. do you think we're becoming too liberal as a nation? >> well, i sure hope so. i sure hope so, bill. we've come through a long period of closing in on ourselves and i think now--especially with the younger generation with the social media that is out there and the way young people are beginning to converse with one another, i think there is a sense that we need to be more liberal, if i can use that word, in our approach to how we deal with one another and how we set up structures, that the best form of governmental structure is one that allows the maximum freedom of the individual. that's what i have always believed maximum freedom of the individual. >> i think you're an embodiment of that philosophy senator.

thank you so much on your leadership on so many issues. thank you for coming in. >> glad to be back. i love being here. >> bill: you're welcome any time. senator tom harkin. i'll be back with a quick parting shot. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on tv, this is the "the bill press show." [ ♪ music ♪ ]

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[ ♪ music ♪ ] [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is "the bill press show." >> bill: all right, on this friday november 30 my parting shot for today yes historic moment as the white house winner

president obama welcoming loser mitt romney for lunch. we know what they dined on. southwestern chili and salad. i hope president obama took the occasion to rub it in a little bit. hey, remember, mittens you insisted i was going to be an one-term president? you were wrong. i not only beat your sorry ass but it wasn't even close. they're still counting votes and president obama's margin continues to grow. today he's 5 million votes ahead of mitt romney and romney is now down to 47%. isn't that delicious? he's down to the 47% that he complained about. serves him right. i love it. any captions. >> don't gert to go to forget to go to bill

press.com facebook. >> bill: that is it enjoy your week and enjoy every moment of it